Al-Minbariyya (an inheritance problem of 'awl solved by Ali from the pulpit)

Al-Minbariyya is an 'awl problem: a man leaves a wife, two daughters and two parents. Ali answered it from the pulpit, saying the wife's share became a ninth, and went on with his sermon. ¹

The problem starts at twenty-four: the wife an eighth, the daughters two thirds, sixteen, and each parent a sixth, four. It rises to twenty-seven, so the wife's share is three twenty-sevenths, a ninth of the adjusted sum. ¹